In doing so, members say, the church hopes to create a functional worship space—an example of Byzantine architecture that the surrounding community can be proud of—and a relationship with its congregation and neighbors that will generate more interest in what the church has to offer.

Since it first moved to Saratoga in 1960, St. Michael has been using a classroom building for its services and a social hall for other community gatherings. The congregation decided early on to build the hall in lieu of a church in order to rent it out and generate enough money to build a quality church in the traditional Byzantine style.

But they didn't expect it to take them this long, said Nena Price, president of the church's women's auxiliary.

That delay, she and church president Nenad Vukicevic said, was due to a rift within the Serbian Orthodox Church, generated by the Serbian Communist Party seeking to weaken the church in Belgrade, that reached all the way to the United States in the early 1960s, just after the social hall was built. Local Serbian-Americans then had to make a choice between becoming part of the community at St. Michael or at a newcomer Serbian church, St. Sava in Cupertino. Building St. Michael's church became less of a reality, and, in the face of the painful church split, ultimately less of a priority.

But the church's rift was formally closed in 1992, and after several years of healing between the two county Serbian churches, St. Sava was sold and everyone returned to St. Michael. And with the money from the sale of St. Sava, the church could again discuss building its sanctuary.

About a year ago, the church formed a committee to work on the plans. It has hired an architect, San Francisco-based Ekona Architecture and Planning, and has come up with some preliminary drawings and a long-range plan for improving the church's entire 4.5-acre site on Allendale Avenue.

The first priority, though, is the church sanctuary, which is planned to be sited on the property's northeast corner along Allendale Avenue. Plans are still tentative, Vukicevic said, but the building will definitely be oriented exactly east-west—the altars of Orthodox churches must face east—which means the church will be slightly off-parallel with Allendale Avenue. It is also planned to have the traditional Byzantine tower over the center, as well as a bell tower at the west entry.

Vukicevic said the building is intended to accommodate about 250 people. Currently, St. Michael has about 100 people at its Sunday services in the makeshift chapel, but if more show up they must spill out onto the outdoor courtyard. Of the approximately 1,000 Serbian-American families in the county, he said, as many as 350 people can show up on a major holy day, like Christmas, Easter or St. Sava's Day, which creates very tight quarters.

Once the church is built, he and Price said, the next step is to move the church's priest, Fr. Slobodan Jovic, and his family from the site's southern home to the one along Allendale, which the church currently rents out. Then the church can build a parking lot for about 130 cars where the other house is, as well as a possible soccer field along the back edge of the property for use by church members and the nearby community.

The existing social hall could also be remodeled and expanded to better accommodate the church's activities, which include traditional folk dancing nights.

Vukicevic said the committee has shown the city's community development department its tentative plans and learned the city's rules. They will eventually submit formal plans to the city for review by the community and the planning commission and welcome the community's participation and comment, he said. The congregation has the money to begin construction on the church and hopes to do so in about a year, he said.

"It's going to be a beautiful church, and the property will be developed in a nice way so it will complement the surrounding area," Vukicevic said.

Price said the church community wants to become a bigger part of the area and share its colorful and vibrant culture and traditions with it as well as its younger members.

"Once we really have a church, I think we'll attract a lot more younger people and sort of carry on the tradition," Price said. "That is basically the role of the church in any community."

Jovic said he is looking forward to the church building as well as the church's growing presence in Saratoga.

"How can you even imagine an organized church without a place of worship?" he asked. "We need to have a place where people feel they are in church. We all have high hopes for the future."